Wednesday, May 28, 2014

I must admit that, since I got my macro lens almost a year ago(!), I've become a real fan of flies. Not only are they beautifully iridescent but they (who would have thought it?) STAY STILL--at least, more so than bees or butterflies or ants.

And yet their stillness is so clearly temporary that each second in which they stand, frozen, seems like a lovely gift I'd be a fool not to take advantage of.

There's a lesson in that somewhere...

{A note: I do write all text and take all pictures. Please do not reproduce either without my permission.}

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Hover flies, or syrphid flies, are adorable little creatures that look like bees (but without the sting) and, like bees, feed on nectar. Unlike bees, however, these creatures will sometimes condescend to pose for me—pausing on a flower or leaf for all of a minute as I madly take pictures.

Today, though, the hover fly I spotted simply—hovered, whizzing through the air around a bunch of irises and then pausing, suspended.

And I caught it. On camera, that is.

Truly, this is a year of miracles.

{A note: I do write all text and take all pictures. Please do not reproduce either without my permission.}

Thursday, May 1, 2014

(Excuse the Russian-style lack of definite article in the title, but, hey, if it's got to scan, it's got to scan!)

Imagine my delight when I spotted this ladybug resting on a leaf, so tranquil that it played Norma Desmond to my Cecil B. Demille and let me get a close-up! (Hand-held rather than with a tripod, but that's my fault, not the beetle's.)

Which just goes to show that nothing bad ever came of scrutinizing mulberries. Or watching Sunset Boulevard.

{A note: I do write all text and take all pictures. Please do not reproduce either without my permission.}

Search This Blog

Follow by Email

About Me

Just to be clear: I don't work at the National Zoo--I just live near it. I'm originally from Detroit, most recently from Boston (where I got my Ph.D. in biology from Tufts University), and am now living in Washington, DC.